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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25871572">He Needed His Dad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray'>AshWinterGray</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bonding, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, F/M, Family Bonding, Fix-It, RHATO #25, Sleepy Cuddles, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:36:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25871572</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Batman's first thought when Red Hood killed Penguin was that he needed to teach him a lesson. Red Hood would no longer be allowed to stay in Gotham. But then he witnessed the ship implode in on itself. Then he witnessed Red Hood get thrown from said ship before it could vanish. Then he heard his son's cry of pure agony.</p><p>Batman did not like killing. Would never allow it. But Batman was being trumped by Bruce Wayne in that moment, because the moment he turned around, all he could see was Jason. His son.</p><p>And Bruce was going to bring his son home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>257</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>He Needed His Dad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            Batman landed on the roof just in time to see Red Hood thrown from the ship. Hood landed with a bang, denting the roof, but the kid still managed to roll onto his knees just in time to see the ship explode. And in that moment, everything changed.</p><p>            <strong>“ARTEMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!”</strong></p><p>            Just hours before, the Red Hood had shot and killed the Penguin on live television. Batman had been angry. Furious. Intent on teaching the boy a lesson. They had made a deal and Hood had broken it. But here. Now. Seeing Red Hood like this in front of him. Batman could <em>see</em> something was wrong. Very. Very. Wrong. His son was in <em>agony.</em></p><p>            Batman was a detective, and it was time he used those detective skills. The first thing Batman took note of was that Hood had just lost his two best friends. It was clear that Bizarro and Artemis had sacrificed themselves to save Gotham, and Artemis had saved Hood in the process. The second thing that stood out to Batman was the raw emotion coming from his son, meaning Jason had already been vulnerable before he lost his friends. And as the incident with the Penguin had only been moments ago, Batman had a strong guess that Hood’s action were fueled by those emotions. And with the Pit still in Jason, those emotions would have been amplified.</p><p>            <em>What had Penguin done?</em></p><p>            “You’re standing right behind me, aren’t you?”</p><p>            Batman came here to teach Red Hood a lesson. To demand Justice. But as Hood turned around, Batman was shoved back. It was rare for Bruce to do that, for him to come forth like that. But one look at his son was all he needed. Because that was what Jason was. His son.</p><p>            “Yes.”</p><p>            He had hurt his son without a second thought, and hadn’t listened. He was a terrible father.</p><p>            Jason lashed out, but Bruce was done fighting. He caught Jason’s leg, wincing as his son flinched, and yanked the boy to his chest. Jason started to struggle, but Bruce simply removed the remain of the helmet (the helmet <em>he</em> had shattered), and combed his hand through Jason’s hair.</p><p>            “Jaylad.”</p><p>            Jason stiffened.</p><p>            “Talk to me. What happened?”</p><p>            Jason began to tremble in his arms, and Bruce got to see how truly vulnerable his son was. It was terrifying. He couldn’t remember seeing Jason like this. Not since he was a child, and even then…his Jaylad had always been strong. Always put up a fight first. Never wanted to show emotions.</p><p>            “I-”</p><p>            Jason’s voice cracked and Bruce did something he hadn’t done in years with his second son. He wrapped his cape around the boy, pulling Jason close that his son was completely covered. Completely safe. And Jason broke.</p><p>            Deep, ugly, wailing sobs of pure agony.</p><p>            Bruce was only vaguely aware of Roy Harper landing on the roof, but paid no mind to the archer. His son was more important. Vaguely, Bruce’s mind reprimanded him, telling him this was how their reunion should have gone years ago.</p><p>            “I didn’t kill Penguin,” Jason wheezed out into Bruce’s chest. “Used a blank. I swear. Wasn’t supposed to die. I swear.”</p><p>            Bruce would check the footage later, what he should have done to begin with.</p><p>            “Shh, Jaylad. Shh. It’s alright. I’ve got you.”</p><p>            Jason shook his head. “He took my dad, B. He killed Willis. He killed him.”</p><p>            And that…that was news to Bruce. He jerked his head to Roy, but the archer seemed just as surprised by the news as Bruce. It dawned on Bruce that the only other two people who would have known about what Jason was talking about had just vanished in some sort of blackhole explosion.</p><p>            Eventually, Jason’s cries tampered off to whimpers as his son fell asleep.</p><p>            “Agent A,” Bruce barked into his coms. “I need the Batmobile to my location. Now.”</p><p>            <em>“Right away. I took the liberty to call Master Red Robin to begin investigating Master Hood’s claims. He has already confirmed that the bullet was in fact a blank. It appears that Penguin jerked, and the blank made contact with his monocle. What the doctors believed to be a bullet was, in fact, a piece of glass.”</em></p><p>            Jason hadn’t been shooting to kill. Despite the rage his son must have felt, his Jaylad hadn’t been trying to kill. But he needed it to <em>look</em> like he was. What backwater contingency had his son come up with this time?</p><p>            “The Iceberg Lounge,” Roy spoke up. “He talked his plan over with me once when we were with Kori. We didn’t have the resources to pull off the plan, but Hood had this master plan to take over the Iceberg Lounge. He reasoned he could use it to subtly take out the gangs of Gotham. And if he played his cards right, he wouldn’t need to kill them either. It would take years, but he has been thinking it out.”</p><p>            Bruce glanced down to his son, tears still falling, even in sleep. It made Bruce’s heart clench. He may not have agreed with his son’s methods, but his son always had Gotham in his heart. He was more of a Gothamite than Bruce could ever dream to be, knew the streets and the way it worked better than Batman and the police combined.</p><p>            The batmobile arrived.</p><p>            “Help me take him home.”</p><p>            Roy blinked before carefully following Bruce to the Batmobile. To Roy’s surprise, Bruce took the passenger seat, resting Jason against his chest. Roy took the driver’s side, easily seeing the autopilot and not touching anything. His gaze went to Jason, watching as Bruce removed his cowl the moment they were safely sealed in the vehicle.</p><p>            “Tell me more about this plan.”</p><p>            “Well, I don’t know how much he changed it, but…”</p><p>-------------------------------------</p><p>            Jason was sore and in pain. In stories, people always talked about waking up with a hazed memory of what brought them to this situation. Jason was denied that liberty. He let out a long sigh, knowing Bruce would probably throw him in Arkham or something. Maybe even kick him out of Gotham. Who knew. Only, when he opened his eyes, it wasn’t the cave that greeted him.</p><p>            It was the guest room that he occasionally stayed in. He knew because he was hit with the familiar smell, a smell he still called home. Why would Bruce…</p><p>            “Are you in pain, Jaylad?”</p><p>            Jason whipped his head towards the voice, trying to hide a wince at the pain it brought. Bruce was watching him intently, studying him. It was both unnerving and familiar. Jason gave a nod, not sure what else to do,</p><p>            Bruce slipped two painkillers into Jason’s mouth and held a cup with a straw between his lips. Once Jason had swallowed the pills, Bruce brushed some hair from Jason’s face. Jason couldn’t help but lean into the touch.</p><p>            “I’m sorry, Jaylad. I should have listened first.”</p><p>            Jason swallowed, not sure he trusted his voice just yet. And the feeling of Bruce’s hand in his hair was soothing. He didn’t want to ruin that.</p><p>            “Do you feel up to eating?”</p><p>            Jason shook his head. He was still so tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. But wasn’t he already sleeping? He had to be. There was no way Bruce was this nice or understanding in real life. Jason was the black sheep. The problem child. Bruce had made that clear. Maybe Bruce had beaten him into unconsciousness and he’d wake up in Arkham or Blackgate or something.</p><p>            He let his eyes slide shut, feeling the pull of sleep far too heavily to resist.</p><p>            Bruce watched his son fall asleep once more, still carding his hand through Jason’s hair. His son was still so vulnerable, even after a week of unconsciousness. Leslie had said Jason had thrown himself into a deep sleep to cope, but that his healing factor due to the Lazarus Pit would not keep him under for long. His son had nearly thrown himself into a coma.</p><p>            It had two hours for Tim to find the Blackgate records, both the official statement about the death of Willis Todd, and what <em>actually</em> happened. It had taken three days to find the letter Willis had written to Jason, and the only reason they found it was because Roy had been hitting Jason’s safe houses to see if he had a written version of his Iceberg Lounge contingency. The plan, though ruthless, was well thought out and would take years, maybe a decade to complete. But Jason had thought it all out. From the disposal of current gangs, to the potential rise of new gangs, even to prevent old gangs from returning. The Iceberg Lounge was just the start. Jason intended to use whatever funds he was using for his project to remake Crime Alley into a respectable neighborhood. And then he was going to spread to the rest of Gotham. </p><p>            It was a plan so wonderfully thought out, even if parts were far too brutal for Bruce’s liking.</p><p>            Five days later, roughly two days ago, the news that the Penguin was alive spread through Gotham. The Commissioner had personally confronted Batman about it, and the two had discussed the plan in vague detail.</p><p>            “You Bats,” the Commissioner had huffed. “You and your fancy scheming. One of these days, one of you just might succeed in making Gotham better, even if there are still Rogues running about.”</p><p>            Tim’s hand on his shoulder pulled Bruce out of his thoughts. He looked to his son, who was carrying a tray of food.</p><p>            “Alfred said you needed to eat,” Tim placed the tray down. “And judging by the lack of pain pills, he woke up.”</p><p>            “For three minutes,” Bruce nodded. “I got him to take the pills before he fell asleep again.”</p><p>            “Still vulnerable then?”</p><p>            “Hn.”</p><p>            Tim snorted at that, getting a glare from Bruce. “None of us are very good at being vulnerable, Bruce. You know that better than the rest of us.”</p><p>            “Do you need something, Tim?”</p><p>            Tim chuckled at that. “I’ve got people looking for Artemis and Bizarro. We believe it was some sort of wormhole that took them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find out where that wormhole went.”</p><p>            Bruce watched as Tim circled the bed and placed his tablet on the opposite nightstand. Then he sat on the bed, propping himself against the headboard and shutting his eyes. Tim had been working tirelessly for the last week. Bruce could fault his son for wanting to nap. But did it have to be here?</p><p>            His sons were both asleep, and Bruce didn’t have the heart to move them.</p><p>------------------------------------</p><p>            Jason woke up curled around Tim, and in all honesty, it wasn’t the worst place to be. Tim was by far his favorite sibling (if Jason even had the right to call Tim that). But it was the first warning sign that he wasn’t in Arkham or Blackgate. Despite Tim’s near scare with Captain Boomerang, Tim had never done something even remotely worthy of getting thrown in either prison.</p><p>            The second hint was Cass curled up against his back. He hadn’t worked with her as much, but she was definitely his second favorite sibling. And she only held second place because he hardly knew her. The third hint was the comfortable bed.</p><p>            But the fourth hint that drove everything home was Bruce Wayne watching him carefully from a chair by the bedside.</p><p>            “How do you feel, Jaylad?”</p><p>            Was Jason dreaming again? “Sore.”</p><p>            Bruce nodded, something flashing across the older man’s face. “Leslie said you might feel that way, even with your advanced healing. You had quite the time, lad.”</p><p>            That felt like an understatement. But Jason also didn’t miss the fact that Bruce was choosing his words carefully.</p><p>            “How long?”</p><p>            “A week. You woke up once already this morning. Do you remember?”</p><p>            Jason had…vague memories. He nodded. There were a lot of questions dancing in Jason’s head, but he was too afraid to ask them. Bruce, however, once more began running a hand through his hair.</p><p>            “I’m afraid I ruined your plan,” Bruce sighed. “Roy told me about it, even found a copy of your plan for the Iceberg Lounge. Why I don’t agree with a large portion of that plan, I’m proud of you, Jay. Your plan might have worked.”</p><p>            “Course it would,” Jason gave Bruce a lazy, knowing smirk. “I’m your son.”</p><p>            <em>“I’m my father’s son.”</em></p><p>            Bruce felt his breathing hitch, but he didn’t dare stop running a hand through Jason’s hair. It was starting to curl. Jason hated when it did that. There was a time when Jason threatened to shave it all off.</p><p>            “Yes, you are, Jaylad. Though I don’t think I’m worthy enough to be your father.”</p><p>            Jason shook his head. He was feeling exceptionally talkative today, wasn’t he? “Think it’s the other way around, dad.”</p><p>            Bruce’s hand did still this time.</p><p>            “I remember the last time you called me that.”</p><p>            Again, Jason shook his head. “No you don’t. You weren’t there.”</p><p>            Bruce’s heart nearly stopped at that. It was so easy for Bruce to realize what Jason meant. Jason must have called for him in the warehouse, begging his father to come. Begging for Bruce because Bruce was his dad.</p><p>            He had failed his son so many times.</p><p>            “You’re going to be okay, Jaylad. I’ve got you now. Roy is here too, and we’ll find your friends. You’re home now, Jaylad. Home and safe.”</p><p>            Something in Jason visibly relaxed and he pulled Tim closer. Bruce couldn’t help but think that this was how things should have been when Jason came back. He knew the problem with changing the past, but he could fix things in the days to come.</p><p>            His Jaylad was finally home and he wanted to keep it that way.</p>
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